Char B1 Bis
The Char B1 is a tier 2 French heavy tank. Brief Introduction The Char B1 Bis, was an upgraded version of the seemingly obsolete Char B1. This version had thicker armor than the previous one, having a max armor value of around 60 mm, with around 55 mm on the sides. It also featured the longer barreled 47 mm SA 35 gun and an APX4 turret, whilst retaining the 75 mm howitzer in the hull. At least 369 Char B1 Bis tanks were built, out of the 1,144 ordered, and like the SOMUA S35, it was a formidable opponent to German panzers it encountered, only to suffer some short-comings, due to poor French tactics and ergonomics. After the fall of France, it was used by the Germans, under the designation Panzerkampfwagen B-2 740(f). Playstyle With moderate all-round protection, excellent gun performance, and crawling speeds of up to 30 km/h is what summarizes the Char B1 Bis. Even though many view this as an absolutely horrible tank, the best way to squeeze out all of its potential is to play the support role of your team. Your armor is also thicker than most of your counterparts at the same tier and the Char has a decently quick reloading gun that can dish out continuous damage every 3-4 seconds. Your role is similar to that of a mobile machine gunner in which your continuous fire will deter enemies of the same tier from entering a certain area lest they want to receive some heavy damage. If forced into a brawl, try to angle your armor for the highest chance of a bounce and aim for the enemy's weak spot to deal critical damage. If you cannot find any weak spots, shooting out their tracks then attacking their rear is also a viable strategy. Pros * Well-armored frontal hull and gun mantlet is impervious to most low tier enemy guns. * Average gun DPS and armor penetration. * Slightly-average health pool. * Quick gun reloading speed. Cons * Although enough for dealing with plenty of low tiers, the guns armor penetration will not be enough to penetrate many tier II vehicles, such as the Chi-Nu or Jagdpanzer 38 (t). * Slow top speed of 30 km/h will take much longer to get to one place to the other. * In addition to slow speed, many enemy vehicles have the potential to encircle your vehicle if the user is not wary enough. History As production of the Char B1 commenced, the tank was already deemed obsolete. Its armor, measuring at 40-mm, was barely adequate to protect the vehicle against the new Germany 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun. Although many propositions to develop three different versions of the Char B1 in the 1930s, Renault was more concerned in investing in such an outdated design and preferred to invest in the next generation battle tank, the Renault ACK 1, or what would eventually become the Char G1R. However, in the event that French armored divisions would require more tanks in response to the German rearmament. This led to the end of the evolution of the Char B1 in favor of a "B1 surblinde." This envisioned the upgrade of the Char B1s armor from 40-mm to 60-mm along with the redesign of the engine to have the horsepower of 300hp. With approval for construction in 1935, the first production contract was given to Renault in May 1937 due to continuous delays in Char B1 production. By the end of the German campaign in France in 1940, 403 units had been completed by French companies Renault, AMX, Schneider, FCM, and FAMH, only being 1/3 short of the original production run of 1,178 units. Historical Trivia * With the fall of France in June 1940, many French armored divisions abandoned many operational Char B1 tanks. When discovered by the German Wehrmacht, the tank was repurposed with German armored divisions specializing in utilizing captured tanks under the designation Panzerkampfwagen B2 740 (f) * Pierre Billote is known for commanding a Char B1 bis nicknamed "Eure" and destroyed two Panzer IVs, eleven panzers IIIs, and two enemy guns during a mission to retake the village of Stonne. * Some Char B1 tanks were equipped with a radio despite the French's reluctance to use radios. * There were two improvements of the Char B1, which the B1 bis came first, and a plan to further modernize the tank was made, known as the B1 ter. Gallery Category:France Category:Heavy Tanks Category:Tier 2 Category:Non-Premium Category:Infantry Tank